Potential tourists, she said, need to hear the message: Northern Michigan is a fun and inexpensive place to vacation.

"I don't think there has ever been a more important time than now for us to reach out into states that have stronger economies than ours, because that's where the potential visitors with higher levels of discretionary spending live," said Steve Yencich, president of the Lansing-based Michigan Lodging and Tourism Association.

But, he said, "You can't get someone to buy a product when they don't know what that product is. You have to tell them we exist."

Alexander Cohn | Times PhotoWaitress Jennifer Joseph, center, chats with patrons Chet Kobylinski, left, and John Ashenbrenner, both of Prudenville, at Coyle's Restaurant.

Marketing Michigan as a destination is the job of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. through it's Travel Michigan division and the Pure Michigan tourism promotional campaign. But constraints make that job difficult, according to George Zimmerman, vice president of the MEDC and director of Travel Michigan.

The MEDC will spend $11.4 million on its promotion program in fiscal year 2008. Of that total, $10 million will go to Pure Michigan, the state's tourism advertising campaign. That's 25 percent less than last year, when the MEDC received $13.2 million due in part to a one-time funding infusion from the 21st Century Jobs Fund.

But legislation is in the works that could boost Michigan's efforts. The state House and Senate each passed bills within the past two weeks that would provide $60 million for Pure Michigan promotion over two years, with about $40 million going toward tourism promotion and $20 million for business marketing. The money would come from a refinancing of tobacco settlement bonds. Gov. Jennifer Granholm is expected to sign a final version of the legislation sometime next month.

Help needed now

Any funding that is appropriated must come fast to benefit this summer's tourist season, Zimmerman said.

To be effective, Zimmerman said, advertising must be purchased in the first week of May, meaning he needs funding in hand by mid-April at the latest.

Yet he remains optimistic.

"I think everyone understands we need to do something quickly," Zimmerman said, noting the broad support those bills received in both congressional chambers. "It's great bi-partisan effort. Everyone realizes we have to get something done."

HOW OTHER STATES DO IT

Michigan will spend about $11.4 million promoting tourism this year. Compare that to Hawaii, which spends $70 million annually on promotion, or Pennsylvania, which will spend $50 million this year to lure tourists from across the country and beyond. Illinois and Florida both spend about $30 million annually.

Some states, however, spend less than Michigan. Indiana spends $4.8 million each year to market within its own borders. Wisconsin and Ontario actively target markets within Michigan.

Tourism is the state's third-largest industry behind manufacturing and agriculture and a driving force in Michigan's economy, a point made clear at a recent meeting of the House Tourism, Outdoor Recreation and Natural Resources Committee held in Lansing.

Committee chairman Rep. Joel Sheltrown, D-West Branch, said the room was filled with tourism dependent business owners who seek help in promoting their industry.

"These people came from all over the state," Sheltrown said. "It gives you an indication of just how important tourism is."

Yet, without legislative action that increases that promotional funding, the state will remain "woefully short when it comes to funding the tourist industry," said Sheltrown.

Leaders of the tourism industry do not fault Travel Michigan or the Michigan Economic Development Corp. Every indication is their campaign is working.

The Pure Michigan promotion has won national awards and the state's tourism Web site - www.michigan.org - is the most-sought-site among its peers, according to Hitwise, an Internet tracking firm.

It is just that fewer dollars means a more focused campaign, Zimmerman said.

Local Convention and Visitor Bureaus throughout the state already fund their own campaigns - to the tune of $30 million to $35 million raised through taxes on hotel guests, he said. That money is primarily spent promoting local markets.

"The industry told us, 'The private sector does all right promoting within the state. It's more important that you focus out of state,'" Zimmerman said.

So 90 percent of Travel Michigan's promotional budget will go into the six primary markets of Chicago, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Cincinnati and Ontario, Canada, Zimmerman says.

Promotion money comes home

Zimmerman says it makes good economic sense to expand campaigns within those target markets and beyond, which will happen if funding increases.

"For every $1 we spend out of state promoting tourism, the Treasury gets $2 to $3 return on investment," Zimmerman said.

That's just from the 6 percent sales tax, noted Tom Ferguson, director of Michigan's Sunrise Side Travel Association. It does not include the 94 percent of every dollar that remains in the business owners' pockets.

"If you start extrapolating figures you get some pretty big numbers," Ferguson said. "We could all say 'What's in it for me? Is that money going to come back to my pocket?'

"Probably not," Ferguson acknowledges. "Is it going to stimulate the local economy? Certainly. There's no doubt about that."

Jack Mathias, owner of Thunder Bay Resort in Hillman, says representatives of the tourism industry, state agency officials and Michigan legislators need to set aside differences and find some way to fund tourism promotion now.

"This is our brand identity," Mathias said. "Almost all the publicity that has gone out of this state since 9/11 has been negative. ...

"If you're talking about bringing people into the state to help create jobs, your image has a lot to do with that. If you can't justify it strictly to build tourism - recognize we have to do it to rebuild the rest of our economic base. There are just a lot of strong arguments to do it."

The recent passage of the bills giving money over the next two years is a good start, business owners say.

Yet all agree there needs to be a more permanent funding fix. And given the rate of return on investment, finding the money to do so only makes economic sense.

"It's very difficult for the state to send a consistent message over time," said Rich Studley, director of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce. "Part of all advertising is having the right message. The other part is repetition."